It’s been a full four years since TT Games gave us LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and while LEGO has, in that time, experimented with various other ways to deliver a LEGO video game, it’s great to be back in the hands of the studio that really shifted the paradigm starting with 2005’s LEGO Star Wars and countless other adventures since. Returning to the world of DC with LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, TT Games is not only bringing their signature style back in fine form, they’ve looked to some of the best Batman video game influences you could ask for, and truly delivered.
As promised, Legacy of the Dark Knight takes place over a stitching-together of a lot of key Batman films, comics, series and more. Given their popularity it, understandably, nestles itself within the general flow of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, but it pulls key scenes, characters and designs from across the various Bat-verses to tell its own, unique Batman story. So you’ll see characters don outfits and spout lines from different eras of the Bat, many even gradually changing over the course of the game in surprisingly-seamless ways to reflect the various designs or actors they’ve been portrayed with over time, and often remixed for the family-friendly LEGO audience in hilarious ways.
But while it’s obviously neat to see this mash-up of Batman media result in hundreds upon hundreds of references, gags, reinterpretations and plenty of surprises, it’s all bolstered by an excellent, fully voice-acted, original script. This isn’t entirely new for the LEGO (or LEGO Batman) games, but this one deftly blends the two worlds of homage and original story with some top-notch writing and acting, and inspired choices of when and where to pull from each property. It’s clear that the team behind this is stacked with Bat-nerds, and as much as I delighted in picking up on everything from blink-and-you’ll-miss-it visual gags to straight-up recreations as a casual enjoyer of Batman media, I’m sure the superfans will have an absolute field day.
The smaller playable character roster is also a massive boon to the game’s storytelling, offering more personal connections to events and gameplay, and much richer interactions. Impressively, the character you’re in direct control of at any point in time can even change the dialogue in some sequences, whether that’s in the more bespoke story missions where you’re locked into the two characters that make sense for the scenes and level design, or out in the open city of Gotham where you can swap around freely.
Those main missions are still the bread-and-butter of this LEGO game, and like previous titles it’s a familiar rhythm of running around lovingly-crafted versions of iconic locales, smashing up any brick-built decor you see to siphon all the valuable LEGO studs you can, solving very light puzzles using unique character abilities and getting into occasional scuffles with bad guys. The big sell here is in how TT Games has taken those ideas and filtered them through the flow of the Batman Arkham series of video games. The more grounded over-the-shoulder camera, occasional detective work and gadgetry, grappling around and crawling through vents are all incredibly reminiscent of Rocksteady’s games, and anyone who’s enjoyed those will feel right at home.
Where the influence truly comes through, though, is in stealth and combat. And yes, there is a stealth system in this LEGO game. It’s pretty loose – there’s no need to worry about how loud or obvious you’re being, as long as you stay roughly out of an enemy’s line of sight – but it’s every bit as satisfying to clear out a room of goons without being spotted as it is in the Arkham games. You’re even able to grapple around overhangs and sneakily pull baddies up, perform chain takedowns from the air, create distractions and cause environmental knockouts just as you would there. What LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga did to simplify third-person cover shooters for a younger audience, Legacy of the Dark Knight does for stealth-lite superhero action games.
Should you be forced into proper combat, it’s a pretty similar story. If you’ve played the Arkham games, or any number of titles that have cribbed from their best ideas since (ahem, Marvel’s Spider-Man), you’ll instantly understand the flow of fights. Batman and friends fight with simple one-button combos, semi-automatically flitting between enemies in their vicinity, while flashing icons signal when to press the counter or dodge buttons to keep the momentum going. You’ve also got your various gadgets and finishers, and some robust skill trees allow for further enhancing your prowess, though it all remains relatively simple for the LEGO audience. There are multiple difficulty options allowing players to simplify things even further or add the danger of limited lives and stronger enemy groupings if you’re an older LEGO Batman fan looking for more of a challenge.
The game’s roughly 15-hour main story is spread out across Gotham itself, meaning that in-between bespoke missions you’re free to explore the city as Batman and co. LEGO Gotham is quite decently-sized and absolutely packed with diversions like extra collectibles, Riddler puzzles, randomly–populated crimes to fight and a few other bits that are added over time and as the story unfolds. Crucially, if you’re not into meandering around a big space and checking off lists, you can ignore the vast majority of it and just enjoy the act of speeding around Gotham in any number of the 30-odd unlockable vehicles or soaring high above it, seamlessly. Legacy of the Dark Knight earns a lot of kudos just for giving fans a fully-roamable video game Gotham in such an accessible and charming form.
But wait, there’s more! As if all that isn’t enough, this game’s version of the Batcave earns its own mention by being another sprawling area full of stuff to do, whether it’s just as a hub to upgrade, unlock and shop or as a space to make your own and show off your progress. As you collect studs, you’ll be able to afford expansions to the cave and a plethora of brick-built decorations to arrange as you see fit, really making it your own. There are also multiple huge spaces to show off the enormous number of unlockable suits for Batman and the other six playable characters, with suit designs spanning even more realms of Batman media than the rest of the game covers. It’s a truly special spot to return to over time and watch grow alongside your progress.
One thing I wasn’t entirely sure of going into Legacy of the Dark Knight was a return to TT Games’ particular visual style in LEGO games. After being treated to the gorgeous LEGO Horizon Adventures‘ fully brick-built environments with ray-traced effects to make it look like you’re peering into a LEGO diorama, I wondered if going back to a blend of “real” and plastic elements would be a backwards step. Thankfully, that’s not the case at all. Legacy is a stunning game packed with some incredible detail, especially on characters’ minifigure models and costume details which show plenty of texture, seams, mould marks and shiny, plastic surfaces.
The fidelity of the world itself is basically on par with what you’d expect from a AAA action game, but none of the LEGO elements look out of place, and there are some impressive builds – all of which is perhaps best highlighted by this 1:1 replica of LEGO 10281 Bonsai Tree that you can place in the Bat-cave. There’s a level of artistic direction and technology here that just hasn’t been available in other LEGO titles, making way for the dense and detailed city and intricate environments, plus some terrific action set pieces that wouldn’t be out of place in an Uncharted or Tomb Raider game.
Playing in single-player on my PS5 Pro, for which Legacy of the Dark Knight seemingly doesn’t offer any exclusive modes or enhancements, I had the choice between a 30FPS ‘quality’ mode or a 60FPS option, opting for the smoother performance at the expense of a very slight dip in fidelity. In multiplayer, it’s 30FPS only, and the game feels markedly more sluggish as a result, which is understandable given the size and scope of this open-world adventure but feels like a pretty big trade-off on the most capable current console.
Having fully untethered co-op while exploring Gotham City is actually quite impressive though, as the game does allow both of you to wander off in your own directions, and even complete the incidental optional objectives independently of each other as well as fast travel, drive vehicles and just about anything else that isn’t entering a new level location.
My playthrough did came with a number of noticeable technical issues, though most were purely cosmetic – character portraits not showing, effects becoming stuck, the night sky popping in and out of view – and nothing that actively hindered progress. Still, given the game’s release was brought forward a full week I’d come in under the impression that every last plastic brick would be polished to a sheen.
Reviewed on PS5 Pro | Review copy provided by publisher
Great
- A fantastic original story built from pieces of Batman's history
- Gorgeously rendered characters and open Gotham city environments
- Plenty of the trademark LEGO humour
- Tons to do and unlock, and the Batcave to show it all off
- Exploration, stealth and combat are all a huge step up
Not great
- Some noticeable but not game-ruining technical issues
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